Amateur film-making is a ludicrously expensive hobby. Buying the latest must have gear will set you back a small fortune, but as amateur, do you really need all that gear? I've made some poor investment in gear choices over the years, so I thought I'd share my experiences with fellow enthusiasts and newbies to the hobby. So what do you really need if you're filming for fun?
CameraIt may sound ridiculous, but you may not need a camera. Chances are your smartphone will be a capable
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Filmmakers and enthusiasts are a persecuted bunch of people. If the stories are true, we're frequently harassed for innocent and entirely reasonable filming. These stories always feature a misinformed officer to raise interest. And always accompanied by a raft of outraged comments. In my experience, this is far from the truth. In fact I seem to have the opposite problem. People are just too nice. My shots are normally ruined by polite people stopping or apologising. Clearly I'm just not the videographer
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Sooner or later you'll get a negative critique. Unless you hide your work away, someone will have something negative to say about your work. And it will hurt. How dare they? After all, everyone else gives you nothing but love.

Asking for a critique can be painful, particularly on forums where diplomacy and tact are rarely in abundance. But the tough love of a video review will help expose unseen weaknesses in your technique, technical ability and other skills. Receiving feedback is
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If there's been one constant in my ten years of running this site, it's been the question, "what's the best camera". (And you can tell we're not as trendy as those DSLR sites, as we rarely get asked what's the best lens.) I can see the logic behind the question. After all, camera's aren't cheap and you'll want to get the best value. But it exposes that age old misconception: you need good gear to get great video.The real question you should be asking isn't what's the best, but "how
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